Method of making short measurements in health care and other environments

ABSTRACT

A method is disclosed of using a glove, of latex or similar material, that is embossed or imprinted with one or more measurement scales along a digit or digits thereof. A nurse or other medical practitioner can then use such a glove easily and accurately to measure the sizes of scars and wounds on a patient&#39;s skin for recording and assessing over time the healing or degrading of the scar or wound. The measuring scale on the glove is simply laid along the scar or across a wound and its size is accurately and quickly determined for recordation. The glove also can be used to measure directly the depth of a wound, by inserting a gloved finger with a measurement scale, as an index or pinkie finger, thereinto, where the scale goes to the end of the finger. Other uses in construction and agriculture also appear.

This application claims the benefit of the priority of our co-pending provisional patent application, Ser. No. 61/622,421, filed on Apr. 10, 2012.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method of facilitating the making of short measurements—of up to about six inches—in varied fields such as providing health care in patients' homes by registered nurses attending to those patients, who must report weekly on the healing progress of wounds and injuries such as surgical scars and bed sores. Other fields of use of the invention include carpentry, tiling, plumbing, needlework, agriculture, and other activities where quick, fairly accurate measurements need to be taken.

BACKGROUND OF THE ART

U.S. Medicare regulations require that home-care patients be visited by registered nurses for wound and scar management such as changing of bandages and monitoring of healing progress. Typical care requires the nurse's use of sterile surgical gloves to unwrap the bandage, clean and assess the wound, and re-bandage the wound as appropriate. The measurement step is typically taken with a paper measuring stick that is laid along or across the wound and the length or dimensions of the wound are assessed by the nurse and recorded on the patient's chart. The stick is to be discarded after each measurement, to avoid cross-contamination among multiple wound sites, requiring multiple such sticks. A day of home visits by a nurse often uses an entire supply of such sticks.

A prior US patent, issued in 1943 as U.S. Pat. No. 2,294,140, shows an obstetrical glove for measuring the dimension of an internal birth canal between two of a mother's bones. The measuring instrument is inserted into the patient's body and a measurement of the canal is taken by placing a finger of a second hand on the scale at the opposing side of the canal, adjacent a bone within the mother's body, for assessing the dimension of the birth canal upon withdrawal of the glove and finger from the body. No use of such a glove for taking measurements outside the body is disclosed or is known to the present inventor to have occurred such as is here disclosed and claimed. Outstanding medical interest in this method of use of the scale on a glove has been seen, as the present method solves a long-felt need in the home health care industry, the hospital environment, and in other medical facilities. Other uses for such a measuring glove, as in construction, crafts, etc., are not known prior to development of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a simple, easy, inexpensive, and accurate method of measuring objects such as wounds in the home health care environment and in other objects and tasks. A latex or similar sterile glove is normally worn by a home health care nurse, and this glove is now to be imprinted or embossed with a centimeter or similar scale along the index finger, thumb, and/or pinkie finger and palm. In accordance with this new method, the scale on the glove is held or laid along the patient's skin where the wound is visible, for taking a quick and direct measurement of the length or diameter of the wound. No contamination of the wound is made by the latex glove, and the smooth surface of the glove is typically not contaminated by contact with a wound for transfer of injurious material to another wound site. Thus there is less need for discarding of materials as in the present use of porous paper measuring sticks.

The method of the present invention may also be used in other environments where quick and fairly accurate measurements must be taken over distances of up to about four to six inches (100 to 150 mm) or more. Work gloves for carpentry, masonry, metalwork, tiling, and the like can be imprinted with measuring scales as here and used quickly to know the dimension of a part to be cut or to be placed into an assembly. While not so precisely accurate as a metal ruler or caliper, such measurements as provided here will often be sufficient.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a latex glove for use in the present invention with a measurement scale formed along the top of the index finger thereof.

FIG. 2 shows a latex glove for use in the present invention with a measurement scale formed along the side of the index finger thereof.

FIG. 3 shows a latex glove for use in the present invention with a measurement scale formed along both the index finger and the thumb thereof.

FIG. 4 shows a latex glove for use in the present invention with measurement scales formed both along the top of the index finger thereof and along the thumb, for greater flexibility in wound measurement.

FIG. 5 shows a latex glove for use in the present invention with a measurement scale formed both along the pinkie finger and along a side of the hand, for measurements of up to 200 millimeters of wound or other dimension.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a work glove not of latex, for a left hand, and having a measurement scale formed thereon for use in practicing the method of the present invention not necessarily in a health care context.

FIG. 7 shows a latex glove in use in practicing the present invention, measuring a scar on a patient's arm during a healing process.

THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In accordance with several embodiments of a glove adapted for use in the methods of the present invention, a glove 10 of latex or other material suited to the intended use of the glove is formed in various sizes, as Small, Medium, Large, Extra-Large, XXL, etc. Such glove 10, on a user's left hand, for instance, has an accurate measurement scale 12 embossed or otherwise imprinted along one or more of the digits, palm, and/or edge of the glove, here, on the underside of the left hand index finger. The measurement scale 12 is accurate, within printing tolerances, when printed on the glove 10; the user should ensure that the latex is not unduly stretched along the length of the scale when worn on the hand. The scale should be clearly legible to a user in use, and usually would be in centimeter measures from zero to ten or fifteen units, subdivided as is usual into tenth and half centimeter ticks. Printing in contrasting, indelible ink as shown, or embossing into the plastic of the glove are suitable means of marking the scale 12 onto the glove. Scales can be made on the glove 10 atop or alongside the index finger as in FIGS. 1 and 2, the thumb as in FIG. 3, or both as in FIG. 4, or otherwise such as along the pinkie finger and edge of the hand as in FIG. 5, as may be found in practice to be most efficient for users of the gloves 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50, in various uses and situations. The invention may also be practiced with non-latex gloves, as at 60 in FIG. 6.

FIG. 2 shows a slightly different embodiment of a right-hand glove 20, with the scale 22 formed along the side of the index finger. This format may be useful for measures at or above a patient's waist.

FIG. 3 shows a similar glove 30 having its scale 32 on the inside of the thumb.

FIG. 4 shows a glove 40 with scales 42, 42 on both the index finger and the thumb, for more versatile measurement of different areas, as especially larger, 2-dimensional abrasions or wounds.

FIG. 5 shows a glove 50 for a right hand with a scale 52 extending down the pinkie finger and along the palm of the glove. The scale may be extended to 15 or more centimeters as may be appropriate.

The present invention may be practiced using other gloves than latex for purposes other than measuring wounds. FIG. 6 shows a work glove 60 for a left hand, which is comprised of leather, canvas, or other material to protects the user's hand and skin against heat, cold, puncture, abrasion, splinters, and the like, as adapted to any particular job. It has a scale 62, which may be in inches or centimeters, depending on the use and local preference. The scale 62 is shown on the index finger but may be on the thumb, pinkie, hand, or otherwise as for the latex glove of any of FIGS. 1-5.

In the method of the invention, a nurse or other practitioner while visiting a patient in the patient's home or other facility, or anyone doing rough or other work where hand protection is needed, dons a pair of latex or other gloves as 10 or 60, at least one of which bears one of the measurement scales 12, 22, 32, 42, 52, or 62 as indicated, and proceed with her or his normal working with the patient's wound recovery monitoring or other task. The glove 10 etc. protects the person's hands and skin while avoiding or reducing transfer of injurious material from one wound to another on the patient should a glove be used or re-used to measure more than one wound. For Medicare and other good record-keeping practices, the healing or worsening of each wound is tracked by measuring its extent at least weekly, usually in centimeters, along its length or by its major dimension or dimensions, and recording the measurements in the patient's folder or electronic records. Having the measuring scales readily available on the glove or gloves of the user makes quick, accurate assessment of each wound easy and convenient.

For a scar, as a surgical incision, knife wound, animal laceration, or the like, a scale on the glove is laid along the wound and the length of the wound is easily read from that scale, as in FIG. 7, where a laceration 44 on an arm 46 of a patient is being measured using a glove 40 with a scale 42 thereon (numbering of the scale omitted for clarity).

Where the scale is formed along the pinkie finger and side of the hand of the glove, lengths up to 20 cm can be assessed. For a large or an open would such as a bed sore or burn, major dimensions of the wound can be assessed in similar quick fashion, particularly where scales are formed on both the index finger and thumb of the glove, as in FIG. 4.

Where the scale extends to the end of a digit, as a pinkie in FIG. 5 or on an index finger (not shown), the depth of a wound can be assessed by inserting the digit into the wound and noting and recording the tick at the surface of the wound.

Because the latex and similar material are stretchable, the sizing of the glove to a practitioner's hand is important to avoid errors in measurement, particularly when different nurses may be visiting the patient. If necessary, calibrations of the scales can be made and recorded at each patient's location in conjunction with the measurement records made, to afford consistency among the records despite differences in the measures afforded by different practitioners' gloves; slightly stretching by different amounts in use.

In marketing tests after filing of the provisional application in this case, nurse practitioners in local health care services and in national wound care conventions have welcomed use of samples of the present invention as a great advance over the unmarked gloves and paper tapes of the prior art. Survey responses taken in these environments have confirmed the surprising non-obviousness of this method of measuring and reporting on wound care in the US health system.

Other uses of the measuring system may also be seen from this method. Work gloves of various sorts can be marked with inch or centimeter scales for measuring pipes, openings, gaps, and other dimensions in carpentry, masonry, tiling, and other construction, as well as in agricultural applications in assessing a crop as fruit or vegetables or newborn animals. Domestic uses in needlepoint, sewing, and other household activities including cooking, decorating, and such may also be found.

Many variations may be made in the method of the invention as shown and in its manner of execution without departing from the principles of the invention as described herein and claimed as our invention. Minor variations will not avoid the use of the invention. 

We claim as our invention:
 1. A method of facilitating measurement of a wound to skin in a health care setting, using at least one latex or similar glove formed or imprinted with at least one measurement scale along a digit thereof, the method comprising steps as follows carried out by a health care practitioner, selecting a glove of appropriate size and having a measurement scale extending along at least one digit thereof; placing the glove over the hand and fingers of said practitioner without significant lengthwise stretching of same; uncovering a wound on the patient's skin and cleaning the wound if necessary to expose same to the practitioner's view; placing at least one of the measurement scales on the glove adjacent a major dimension of the wound and noting the measured length or dimension of said wound; and recording the dimension of the wound as measured.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein measurements are taken in two directions to assess the healing or worsening of the wound, and two different scales on the glove, one on the thumb and one on the index finger, are used in the assessment.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the scale is printed on the glove.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the scale is embossed into the material of the glove.
 5. A method of visually directly measuring any selected dimension of up to about six inches (15 centimeters) using a glove on a hand of the user, the glove having a measurement scale imprinted or embossed thereon along a digit thereof, the method comprising the steps of placing the scale adjacent the object whose dimension is to be measured, with a zero tick on the scale adjacent one side or end of the dimension, and recording which tick on the scale the other side or end of the dimension matches.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the object to be measured is a wound in the skin of a patient.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the object to be measured is other than a wound in the skin of a patient.
 8. The method of claim 5, wherein the object to be measured is a construction detail, relating to or including at least one of a pipe, a tile, a carpentry or masonry item, and an electrical item.
 9. The method of claim 5, wherein the object to be measured is an agricultural item, as a fruit or vegetable or small animal item. 